We speak of the three times - past, present and future - as an expression of the insight that nothing lasts but everything is characterized by impermanence. Our impression of time passing is brought about by the continual movement of our mind, with its incessantly changing world of experiences. Intellectually, this is easy for us to understand, but we find it difficult to apply this insight to our daily lives, in which we often have the tendency to want to stop time and prevent certain situations from developing.It is precisely our wish to want to halt the continual change of things that causes us to suffer. When we deeply accept becoming and ceasing as something inevitable, then there is no longer any cause for suffering. If we live impermanence and deeply understand it, then it becomes a friend who helps us settle in the dimension of the present moment and experience the unity of mind and its projections.If our mind did not project appearances, would there be past, present and future? Surely not. There would be no feeling of time passing, as the impression of time is solely caused by the changing projections of our mind. If we wish to achieve certainty about this, we must look directly into our mind in meditation again and again; words and intellectual understanding are not adequate for this. Only through repeated investigation of our own mind can we truly grasp that the world that surrounds us is nothing but a projection of our mind - its dynamic expression, its luminosity.Our mind is a succession of moments of awareness - and these moments of present awareness cannot be extended. We cannot say: "Thoughts, please stop for a moment, so that I may look at you and understand you." Trying to stop the movements of our mind, in order to look at a thought or insight more carefully, blocs the natural, spontaneous dynamics of the mind. There is no point in trying to seize an insight so that we can look at it closely. In true insight, there is nothing that could be looked at or understood.As long as we cherish the desire to understand something, to define and explain it, we miss the real point of our practice and continue in our ordinary mental fixation. If we wish to appropriate an insight, there needs to be someone who wants to understand something - and immediately we recreate the 'I', the thinker. In reality, there is nobody who understands and no object that is to be understood - there simply is only seeing. As soon as we cling to an 'I', there is no more seeing.If we are dissatisfied with the prospect of not being able to understand, that is because we wish to have something for ourselves. We hope to be able to control and master things. But in truth we cannot control or understand anything. If we wish to arrive at a true understanding, we must let go of all personal desire. We should search for the thinker who wants to understand and control. Then we will see that we canot find them, since they do not exist as such. If there is no thinker, then it is only natural that there is no understanding of thought processes and the mind.Thinker and thoughts are empty, without true existence. This fundamental emptiness is the truth body. The luminosity, or dynamics, of this empty mind, its capacity to create thoughts, is the enjoyment body. The manifold expression of the mind, its capacity to assume a myriad forms in a continual change, is the emanation body.

When we allow our mind to engage in itsnatural, spontaneous activity, we will recognizeits three fundamental qualities: emptiness,luminosity and unobstructed manifestation.

We will not, as we may have feared, find ourselves in an empty, blank state. Rather, we will discover that our thoughts are the treasure of the three bodies of enlightenment, the inexhaustible source of wealth of qualities.What can we do to gain insight into the nature of mind? We should meditate and allow our mind to rest in the awareness of the present moment. The true nature of mind is nothing other than this moment of open awareness. In this sense of presence, there is nothing that could be grasped by thought, described or seen. This does not mean, however, that there is nothing at al, but only that no awareness as such is seen. When we rest in this immediate awareness that is the nature of mind, we understand that all appearances are created through the habitual tendencies of our confused mind.The goal of Mahamudra meditation is to see directly the nature of this confusion. This happens when the mind merges with the awareness of the present moment which is its basic nature. In that moment, it is freed of all the negativity and obscurations of all our lifetimes. To penetrate to this experience, we must meditate again and again, over a long period of time, and use all situations for the meditation on the true nature of mind. If we do this, one day we will attain realization and with it complete certainty. We will see directly what the mind is and how it works. From that day on, all our doubts will have been resolved completely.In Mahamudra meditation, we simply allow body and mind to relax and rest in openness. To relax completely does not mean to slump in a lazy way. Rather, it entails maintaining a clear, vivid awareness that perceives all impulses of the mind to hold on to something and lets go of the immediately. Without getting annoyed about our attachment, we simply perceive it and allow it to free itself. Attachment is the sole thing we must abandon, and that is why the teachings speak so insistently of the need for complete relaxation of the mind.In the view of Mahamudra, in which we make no distinction between good thoughts and bad thoughts but allow all appearances equally to dissolve in their true nature, there is one danger. We may regard ourselves as great yogis and think that with this view that is as expansive as the sky, we no longer need to pay attention to the small details of life and of our actions. This erroneous view is rooted in a pride that is as big as a mountain. To think that everything in its nature is emptiness and, therefore, it is no longer necessary to perform wholesome actions and to avoid unwholesome ones, leads to arrogant, inconsiderate behavior. A "great yogi" of that persuasion would entangle themselves more and more in the worldly thinking and acting. Their disturbing emotions would increase, and they would move further and further away from awakening.In order not to fall into this error, we should cultivate the flawless behavior of a bodhisattva and constantly check whether our body, speech and mind conform to the teachings of the Buddha. Even with the very expansive view of Mahamudra, a view that is all-embracing as the universe, we have to be very sensitive and exact in our actions. As soon as we have developed the correct view and actually apply it in practice, we are able to recognize the ultimate reality in ourselves, without having to undertake any great effort to accomplish this. The recognition of the nature of mind is the only thing that we actually need - it has the power to liberate us from everything and to liberate all beings in the universe, too.All phenomena of the external world are only the manifestations of the luminosity of our own mind and ultimately have no reality. When we allow our mind to rest in the recognition that everything that it experiences is its own projection, the separation between subject and object comes to an end. Then there is no longer anyone who grasps at something and nothing that is being grasped at - subject and object are recognized to be unreal.In order to experience this, we allow our mind to remain in its ordinary consciousness, the awareness of the present moment, which is the deep, unchanging nature of mind itself and which is also called "timeless awareness." That is the natural insight that arises spontaneously when in every moment we look directly at the true nature of mind.

In seeing the nature of mind, there is nothing to "see"since it is not an object of perception. We see it withoutseeing anything. We know it without knowing anything.

The mind recognizes itself spontaneously, in a way beyond all duality. The path that leads to this is the awareness of the present moment, free of all interference. It is an error to think that the ultimate truth) is difficult to recognize. The meditation on the nature of mind is actually very easy, as we do not have to go anywhere to find this nature. No work needs to be done to produce it; no effort is required to find it. It is sufficient for us to sit down, allow our mind to rest in itself and directly look at the one who thinks that it is difficult to find the nature of mind. In that moment, we discover it directly, as it is very close and always within easy reach.It would be absurd to worry that we might not succeed in discovering the nature of mind, as it is already present in us. It is sufficient to look into ourselves. When our mind directs its gaze upon itself, it finds itself and understands that the seeker and the sought are not two different things. At the moment, we cannot see the nature of our mind because we do not know how we must look. The problem is not that we do not possess the capacity for doing this but that we do not look in the right way.To become capable of recognizing the nature of mind in the way described, we have to work at relaxing deeply and letting go of all wanting, so that the natural state of mind can reveal itself. This work is the exact opposite of worldly effort, in which we strive to obtain concrete things and put ourselves into a state of strain. In the practice of Dharma, we must "strain without effort." This does not mean that we do nothing at all and simply remain as we are, because then we would continue to reproduce the same behavior patterns that have existed in us since beginningless time. We must make an effort to purify our ego-centered tendencies and become aware of our intentions.

Mahamudra meditation means nothing other than just being there, being within the simplest state of ourselves. Most of you will have heard of the meditation technique in which one does not heed any thoughts of the past or future. One neither dwells upon memories nor speculates about future plans. One just rests in complete nowness. This is what is meant here. When we do not follow thoughts of the past and do not anticipate future events, but are just here, in tune with the present moment, we are in a state of newness and freshness. The text describes this as the essence of whatever thought arises being ever new.This means that we let things arise and do not stop or manipulate them. We just sit there totally open and unblocked, completely fresh and alert. We hear things, see things, sense and feel things, but do not react in anyway. We just are in the precision and newness of the very moment itself. This is the uncontrived state of being in which we are completely natural and fresh, totally uninvolved, not speculating or manipulating or making up images. We are just then and there, conscious, alert, and clear.If we are able to remain in that state and look at our present mind, completely leaving what is there at this moment, without interfering with anything, just relaxing and being in that very moment, this is the meditation of Mahamudra beyond preparatory stages. Being in the present moment does not mean being stuck there. It means being in the stream of passing moments, leaving ourselves to the flux. Whatever arises, let it arise. Do not label it, just let it be. Let it arise and arise, and do not react no matter how good or bad it may seem. Do not fall to evaluations and concepts about it. When we are able to do that, we will be in a state that is free from contrivance. In this state there is no distraction, as one does not follow or react to anything.Being distracted means pursuing a thought that comes up. For instance, when we hear the sound of a car passing by, this in itself is not a distraction. But the moment we think, “There is a car,” we have labeled what we heard as being the sound of a car. Then, we build up a chain reaction: “This place is noisy. I shouldn’t be distracted, but now I am. There are too many cars in this city.” In this way we become more and more angry, thinking, “This is terrible! I am disturbed. I cannot meditate in this place.” This is distraction. When a car passes by, let it pass by. Then, it is finished, it is all right; there is nothing wrong with it. The problem is not the sound of the car, but our reaction to it.

(Ringu Tulku in "Daring Steps Toward Fearlessness", p. 197-198)

"There is no such thing as the real mind. Ridding yourself of delusion: that's the real mind."(Sheng-yen: Getting the Buddha Mind, p 73)

Astus wrote: Mahamudra meditation means nothing other than just being there, being within the simplest state of ourselves. Most of you will have heard of the meditation technique in which one does not heed any thoughts of the past or future. One neither dwells upon memories nor speculates about future plans. One just rests in complete nowness. This is what is meant here. When we do not follow thoughts of the past and do not anticipate future events, but are just here, in tune with the present moment, we are in a state of newness and freshness. The text describes this as the essence of whatever thought arises being ever new.This means that we let things arise and do not stop or manipulate them. We just sit there totally open and unblocked, completely fresh and alert. We hear things, see things, sense and feel things, but do not react in anyway. We just are in the precision and newness of the very moment itself. This is the uncontrived state of being in which we are completely natural and fresh, totally uninvolved, not speculating or manipulating or making up images. We are just then and there, conscious, alert, and clear.If we are able to remain in that state and look at our present mind, completely leaving what is there at this moment, without interfering with anything, just relaxing and being in that very moment, this is the meditation of Mahamudra beyond preparatory stages. Being in the present moment does not mean being stuck there. It means being in the stream of passing moments, leaving ourselves to the flux. Whatever arises, let it arise. Do not label it, just let it be. Let it arise and arise, and do not react no matter how good or bad it may seem. Do not fall to evaluations and concepts about it. When we are able to do that, we will be in a state that is free from contrivance. In this state there is no distraction, as one does not follow or react to anything.Being distracted means pursuing a thought that comes up. For instance, when we hear the sound of a car passing by, this in itself is not a distraction. But the moment we think, “There is a car,” we have labeled what we heard as being the sound of a car. Then, we build up a chain reaction: “This place is noisy. I shouldn’t be distracted, but now I am. There are too many cars in this city.” In this way we become more and more angry, thinking, “This is terrible! I am disturbed. I cannot meditate in this place.” This is distraction. When a car passes by, let it pass by. Then, it is finished, it is all right; there is nothing wrong with it. The problem is not the sound of the car, but our reaction to it.

(Ringu Tulku in "Daring Steps Toward Fearlessness", p. 197-198)

Serious Question. Isn't this Eckhart Tolle's core teaching? To remain in the present instant at all times, waiting for the next thought like a cat waiting for a mouse to appear?

"All memories and thoughts are the union of emptiness and knowing, the Mind.Without attachment, self-liberating, like a snake in a knot.Through the qualities of meditating in that way,Mental obscurations are purified and the dharmakaya is attained."

Student: When I just watch my thoughts without following them, is that meditation as it is meant here?RTR: What I was trying to say is that you do not watch your thoughts. You just are, and let your thoughts come and go. Can you understand that?(Daring Steps, p. 200)

One method he recommends is simply to listen to the voice in the head without judging it in any way or getting caught up in its contents. Just by 'watching the thinker' in the head, he says, "You'll soon realise: there is the voice, and here I am listening to it." That I am realisation is "a sense of your own presence ... (arising) from beyond the mind." And as one becomes aware of this deeper self as a conscious presence, so the involuntary thinking begins to subside, giving way to stillness, peace and what he calls "the joy of Being."(from the above linked Wikipedia article)

"At this time, you may have an experience of bliss, from which you feel you cannot bear to be parted. Do not cling to it. There may be an experience of clarity. Do not hold onto it, getting the conceited idea, ‘This is the flow of my innermost nature, which is clear and distinct.’ You may be in total absence of thought, resembling all remembrance and scheming being cut. Do not get attached to this either. Within the notion, ‘This is freedom from conceptual mind,’ remain beyond. You should turn toward the one who perceives and creates all these things. Get to the top of that itself and settle right there. Then you will remain in meditative equipoise with nothing to settle upon. The nature of everything is apparent. There is no reason for thought or conceptual grasping. When you are meditating, there is no inner onlooker present. When you are not meditating, the cause of distraction is lost. Mindfulness being self- liberated, the knot of hope and apprehension is untied within the sphere of openness and relaxation. The chains of doubt are severed. There is ever- present purity, beyond bondage and liberation. This is primordial wisdom, freed from the need of applying an antidote. It is dharmata, in which everything to be abandoned is exhausted. From this alone we realize our nature, the mind of the primordial protector."(Daring Steps, p. 170 - emphasis added)

"There is no such thing as the real mind. Ridding yourself of delusion: that's the real mind."(Sheng-yen: Getting the Buddha Mind, p 73)

Astus wrote:Student: When I just watch my thoughts without following them, is that meditation as it is meant here?RTR: What I was trying to say is that you do not watch your thoughts. You just are, and let your thoughts come and go. Can you understand that?(Daring Steps, p. 200)

What's the difference? Isn't it the same thing at first? Letting thoughts arise and waving at them as they pass?

Equanimity is the ground. Love is the moisture. Compassion is the seed. Bodhicitta is the result.

"All memories and thoughts are the union of emptiness and knowing, the Mind.Without attachment, self-liberating, like a snake in a knot.Through the qualities of meditating in that way,Mental obscurations are purified and the dharmakaya is attained."

Konchog1 wrote:What's the difference? Isn't it the same thing at first? Letting thoughts arise and waving at them as they pass?

If you take the position of watching your thoughts, that is still grasping at a mental state, a thought. So even if the instruction is to watch the thoughts, it means not grasping any of them, not forcing anything, not elaborating. If you try to be the watcher, that is a contrived and tiring practice. And it is also a mistake to believe that there is somebody looking at thoughts.

"There is no such thing as the real mind. Ridding yourself of delusion: that's the real mind."(Sheng-yen: Getting the Buddha Mind, p 73)

Konchog1 wrote:What's the difference? Isn't it the same thing at first? Letting thoughts arise and waving at them as they pass?

If you take the position of watching your thoughts, that is still grasping at a mental state, a thought. So even if the instruction is to watch the thoughts, it means not grasping any of them, not forcing anything, not elaborating. If you try to be the watcher, that is a contrived and tiring practice. And it is also a mistake to believe that there is somebody looking at thoughts.

I still don't quite get it, but thanks.

Equanimity is the ground. Love is the moisture. Compassion is the seed. Bodhicitta is the result.

"All memories and thoughts are the union of emptiness and knowing, the Mind.Without attachment, self-liberating, like a snake in a knot.Through the qualities of meditating in that way,Mental obscurations are purified and the dharmakaya is attained."

If you take the position of watching your thoughts, that is still grasping at a mental state, a thought. So even if the instruction is to watch the thoughts, it means not grasping any of them, not forcing anything, not elaborating. If you try to be the watcher, that is a contrived and tiring practice.

This makes total sense.

And it is also a mistake to believe that there is somebody looking at thoughts.

Right, the aggregates are empty. I understand this intellectually, but I don't understand how to combine this fact with Mahamudra meditation.

I just can't imagine watching my thoughts without watching. Unless you mean to watch without thinking "I'm watching" or any thought at all. Just pure awareness. But Daring Steps says that's not enough:

You may be in total absence of thought, resembling all remembrance and scheming being cut. Do not get attached to this either. Within the notion, ‘This is freedom from conceptual mind,’ remain beyond.

Equanimity is the ground. Love is the moisture. Compassion is the seed. Bodhicitta is the result.

"All memories and thoughts are the union of emptiness and knowing, the Mind.Without attachment, self-liberating, like a snake in a knot.Through the qualities of meditating in that way,Mental obscurations are purified and the dharmakaya is attained."

You start by watching your thoughts and sooner or later you realize that there is no watched and no watcher, not just intellectually, but experientially. It's impossible to start doing mahamudra meditation in a perfectly correct way, you need to approximate the method and then refine it as you understanding improves.

Jinzang wrote:You start by watching your thoughts and sooner or later you realize that there is no watched and no watcher, not just intellectually, but experientially. It's impossible to start doing mahamudra meditation in a perfectly correct way, you need to approximate the method and then refine it as you understanding improves.

Figure it out as you go along huh? Sounds right. Thanks,

Equanimity is the ground. Love is the moisture. Compassion is the seed. Bodhicitta is the result.

"All memories and thoughts are the union of emptiness and knowing, the Mind.Without attachment, self-liberating, like a snake in a knot.Through the qualities of meditating in that way,Mental obscurations are purified and the dharmakaya is attained."

We like to think we are the one watching the thoughts. But that is based on the assumption that otherwise we would miss them. Also, it is the idea that is the problem, the reification of the mind. Just relaxing, resting in the nature of the mind means no objectification of any subject. That's why there is first the insight meditation and the analysis of the mind, to establish clearly it's ungraspable and luminous nature.

"There is no such thing as the real mind. Ridding yourself of delusion: that's the real mind."(Sheng-yen: Getting the Buddha Mind, p 73)

Astus wrote:We like to think we are the one watching the thoughts. But that is based on the assumption that otherwise we would miss them. Also, it is the idea that is the problem, the reification of the mind. Just relaxing, resting in the nature of the mind means no objectification of any subject. That's why there is first the insight meditation and the analysis of the mind, to establish clearly it's ungraspable and luminous nature.

Right, as Tashi Tsering put it: "me and my aggregates" is wrong. So 'me and my thoughts' is also wrong.

I get it now, and I've learned a lot. Thanks everyone.

Equanimity is the ground. Love is the moisture. Compassion is the seed. Bodhicitta is the result.

"All memories and thoughts are the union of emptiness and knowing, the Mind.Without attachment, self-liberating, like a snake in a knot.Through the qualities of meditating in that way,Mental obscurations are purified and the dharmakaya is attained."

Astus wrote:We like to think we are the one watching the thoughts. But that is based on the assumption that otherwise we would miss them. Also, it is the idea that is the problem, the reification of the mind. Just relaxing, resting in the nature of the mind means no objectification of any subject. That's why there is first the insight meditation and the analysis of the mind, to establish clearly it's ungraspable and luminous nature.

Once the mind is concentrated, purified, bright, rid of defilement and steady, should we not directed it to investigate?

Astus wrote:We like to think we are the one watching the thoughts. But that is based on the assumption that otherwise we would miss them. Also, it is the idea that is the problem, the reification of the mind. Just relaxing, resting in the nature of the mind means no objectification of any subject. That's why there is first the insight meditation and the analysis of the mind, to establish clearly it's ungraspable and luminous nature.

Once the mind is concentrated, purified, bright, rid of defilement and steady, should we not directed it to investigate?

"When the mind was thus concentrated, purified, bright, unblemished, rid of defilement, pliant, malleable, steady, & attained to imperturbability, I directed it to the knowledge of recollecting my past lives. I recollected my manifold past lives, i.e., one birth, two...five, ten...fifty, a hundred, a thousand, a hundred thousand, many eons of cosmic contraction, many eons of cosmic expansion, many eons of cosmic contraction & expansion: 'There I had such a name, belonged to such a clan, had such an appearance. Such was my food, such my experience of pleasure & pain, such the end of my life. Passing away from that state, I re-arose there. There too I had such a name, belonged to such a clan, had such an appearance. Such was my food, such my experience of pleasure & pain, such the end of my life. Passing away from that state, I re-arose here.' Thus I remembered my manifold past lives in their modes & details."This was the first knowledge I attained in the first watch of the night. Ignorance was destroyed; knowledge arose; darkness was destroyed; light arose — as happens in one who is heedful, ardent, & resolute. But the pleasant feeling that arose in this way did not invade my mind or remain. " (Maha-Saccaka Sutta)

"When the mind was thus concentrated, purified, bright, unblemished, rid of defilement, pliant, malleable, steady, & attained to imperturbability, I directed it to the knowledge of the passing away & reappearance of beings. I saw — by means of the divine eye, purified & surpassing the human — beings passing away & re-appearing, and I discerned how they are inferior & superior, beautiful & ugly, fortunate & unfortunate in accordance with their kamma: 'These beings — who were endowed with bad conduct of body, speech, & mind, who reviled the noble ones, held wrong views and undertook actions under the influence of wrong views — with the break-up of the body, after death, have re-appeared in the plane of deprivation, the bad destination, the lower realms, in hell. But these beings — who were endowed with good conduct of body, speech & mind, who did not revile the noble ones, who held right views and undertook actions under the influence of right views — with the break-up of the body, after death, have re-appeared in the good destinations, in the heavenly world.' Thus — by means of the divine eye, purified & surpassing the human — I saw beings passing away & re-appearing, and I discerned how they are inferior & superior, beautiful & ugly, fortunate & unfortunate in accordance with their kamma."This was the second knowledge I attained in the second watch of the night. Ignorance was destroyed; knowledge arose; darkness was destroyed; light arose — as happens in one who is heedful, ardent, & resolute. But the pleasant feeling that arose in this way did not invade my mind or remain. "(Maha-Saccaka Sutta)

"When the mind was thus concentrated, purified, bright, unblemished, rid of defilement, pliant, malleable, steady, & attained to imperturbability, I directed it to the knowledge of the ending of the taints. I discerned, as it was actually present, that 'This is dukkha... This is the origination of dukkha... This is the cessation of dukkha... This is the way leading to the cessation of dukkha ...( Four Noble Truths).

These are the taints... This is the origin of the taints... This is the cessation of the taints... This is the way leading to the cessation of the taints.' When I knew and saw thus, my mind was liberated from the taint of sensual desire, from the taint of becoming, released from the taint of ignorance. ( Ignorance is the first of the 12 factors of Dependent co-arising)

With liberation, there was the knowledge, 'Liberated.' I directly knew that 'Birth is ended, the holy life fulfilled, the task done. There is nothing further for any state of being.'

"This was the third knowledge I attained in the third watch of the night. Ignorance was destroyed; knowledge arose; darkness was destroyed; light arose — as happens in one who is heedful, ardent, & resolute. But the pleasant feeling that arose in this way did not invade my mind or remain." (Maha-Saccaka Sutta)

Lobsang P. wrote:

nirmal wrote:

Astus wrote:We like to think we are the one watching the thoughts. But that is based on the assumption that otherwise we would miss them. Also, it is the idea that is the problem, the reification of the mind. Just relaxing, resting in the nature of the mind means no objectification of any subject. That's why there is first the insight meditation and the analysis of the mind, to establish clearly it's ungraspable and luminous nature.

Once the mind is concentrated, purified, bright, rid of defilement and steady, should we not directed it to investigate?

Try.

I've tried.It really works.We actually have a lot within us just waiting to sprout,bloom and develop but we are usually being in the 'wrong' present, the wrong here and now.Perhaps that comes hand in hand with being a human being.